Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has leapt to the defence of Andre Onana, insisting he is the “second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League”.
Onana has faced intense scrutiny since joining the Red Devils from Inter during the summer transfer window, replacing out-of-contract stalwart David de Gea as their starting goalkeeper.
The Cameroon international has been at fault for several goals conceded by United this season, most recently allowing two Hakim Ziyech free-kicks to squirm in during Wednesday’s 3-3 draw at Galatasaray in the Champions League.
Ahead of United’s trip to Newcastle on Saturday night, Ten Hag faced questions on his belief in Onana and turned to stats to support his argument that he deserves to keep his spot in the starting lineup.
“If you analyse it well then you see he is the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League based on stats, so his expected defending goals is the second best in the Premier League,” Ten Hag said.
The stat Ten Hag is referring to is expected goals prevented, which is calculated by subtracting goals conceded from expected goals on target – Opta have Onana ranking second in the Premier League this season with 3.67 goals prevented, with Luton’s Thomas Kaminski out in front on 6.3.
However, Onana has made more errors leading to shots than any other goalkeeper in this season’s Champions League, alarmingly leading the pack with four in only five games.
Ten Hag added: “He’s doing well. Also he knows that in the Champions League he makes some mistakes, but all over you see the first five months he is doing particularly well.
“You have seen how he reacted to a bad performance like in Munich (where United lost 4-3). At Burnley (in which United won 1-0) he was outstanding. He is a strong character, he is a personality and he will deal with it.”
